Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to dental whitening systems, and more particularly to a dental whitening system that includes a removably heat plate for accelerating a whitening process used for whitening teeth.
Description of Related Art
Conventional teeth whitening is often performed in a dental office, and can take hours, the process may be painful, and is fairly costly. The best whitening results are achieved using 15 to 35 percent hydrogen peroxide gels, sometimes coupled with a high intensity light in the 300-990 nm range to expedite the bleaching chemical reaction. The results tend to fade within 1-2 weeks, however, leaving patients dissatisfied with the benefits relative to the time and expense.
Over-the-counter products may be purchased for use at home, to avoid the need to meet with a dentist. These systems include mouthpieces that use a whitening agent such as 10-20 percent carbamide peroxide gels or up to 8 percent hydrogen peroxide that also contain glycerin, carbomer or carbamide, sodium hydroxide, water, and flavoring agents. Some gels that contain more than 10 percent carbamide peroxide will also include sodium fluoride to reduce sensitivity and strengthen teeth. Over-the-counter products suffer from other deficiencies, such as difficulty of use, irritation to the fingers and results usually take seven to ten days. Often, there is only minimal improvement. The consumer needs a customizable whitening alternative that yields results similar to the initial professional whitening, but at the convenience of the home that allows for frequency applications and a more stabilized whitening result.
One example of an at-home system is shown in Rizoiu et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,616,447, which teaches a dental whitening device that includes a dental tray that includes a plurality of LEDs for directing electromagnetic radiation onto the user's teeth. The LEDs are integrally mounted in the dental tray, and function to increase the effectiveness of the whitening agents used.
Similarly, Carnell, U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,705, teaches a similar dental tray with heating elements disposed integrally therein. The heating elements are integral with the dental tray, and cannot be removed from the dental tray, or used with another dental tray.
The problem with these prior art devices is that the LED components and the heating components are integrally mounted within the dental tray. There is a long-felt need in the art for an improved design that does not include this approach. The present invention teaches a dental whitening system that includes heating elements, and optionally also LEDs, that are mounted on a heating plate that is adapted to be removably mounted on a dental tray. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further advantages as described in the following summary.